Rebuilding the Law in Kosovo more

4- i A DECADE OF SERBIAN REPRESSION HAS LED TO THE DECIMATION OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM AND LEGAL EDUCATION IN KOSOVO. MELBOURNE LAWYER AND ACADEMIC, PAULA GERBER, WAS RECENTLY ABLE TO PLAY A ROLE IN INITIATIVES TO REBUILD THE LAW IN THIS WAR-TORN : COUNTRY. WHAT FOLLOWS IS AN ACCOUNT OF HER EXPERIENCES IN KOSOVO ^y* n 1989, Serbia re-established control f over Kosovo, abolishing the large ■} degree of autonomy that the province I': had enjoyed under the 1974 Constitu- ■s^a tion of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1990, the Serbian government in Belgrade removed all Kosovar Albanian judges from the Bench. In the same year, Kosovar Albanian students were barred from attending the University of Prishtina1 and all Kosovar Albanian academics employed at the University of Prishtina were fired.1 From then, only Serbs (who made up 10 per cent of the Kosovar population) were entitled to receive higher education. The" response of the Kosovar Albanian students and lecturers was to operate an "underground" university with classes conducted in homes, garages and similar places. Alleged atrocities committed by the Serbs in Kosovo eventually led to NATO air strikes which began on 24 March 1999. NATO's objectives were to ensure a verifiable stop to all Serbian military action and the immediate ending of violence and repression in Kosovo. When the Kosovar Albanians were finally able to return to university, they were faced ftgfl law institute journal with a daunting task. While there was no shortage of students eager to resume formal education, there was no library, no up-to-date curriculum and, in many cases, nobody to teach the courses as former professors had fled, been killed or were missing as a result of the war. Unfortunately, the situation in Kosovo is not unique. Similar circumstances exist in many countries that have been wracked by civil wars, including Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was the plight of universities in these war-torn countries that prompted the establishment of the Academic Training Association (ATA), a not-for-profit academic foundation based at the University of Amsterdam. The ATA was established in 1994 with the aim of contrib- uting to the restructuring and reform of universities in south-east Europe. Its first major undertaking was to develop a summer school at the University of Tuzla in Bosnia. Once this was running successfully, the ATA turned its attention to Kosovo. In 2001, in a joint initiative with the University of Prishtina, the ATA set up the Kosovo Summer University (KSU). 1 - " 'i M ponded to ATA's call for foreign ___________ics to help develop and teach a variety of Courses at the KSU across a broad range of disciplines, including law, economics, engin- eering, philosophy, mathematics and English. A team of international lecturers was assem- bled, with professors from Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, Spain, the UK and US. 1 was surprised and proud to be the only Australian participating in the program. In July last year, 1 set off for Kosovo to teach an intensive course entitled "Human Rights Theory". With the assistance of my colleague, Angela Chambers, I taught the course for four hours every morning for two weeks. The ATA tried to avoid scheduling classes in the afternoon as the extreme summer heat was debilitating. My class of 22 students consisted of 65 per cent Kosovar Albanians, with the balance of students coming from Albania, The Nether- lands, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey and Tanzania. I was fortunate to be assigned a skilled interpreter who ensured everything was appropriately translated into Albanian. I was initially concerned that trans- lation would unduly slow down and disrupt the lectures but, in fact, it assisted in ensuring that the course was taught at a pace that gave all the students time to grasp the complex theories and principles of international law. Understandably, the Kosovar students were initially most interested in how the law of human rights applied to their personal february 2002 The students relished the opportunity of taking part in classes and feeling part of the world community. Ili> l.mvi'rsilv nf I'rislilin 11 -ia School Is still in nL'i'd of assistant In particular, tlie library desperately requires up-to-date textbooks on all law subjects. People wanting to donate books can do so by sending them to: Finnish Human Rights Centre (University of Prishtina Project) C/- Kari Van Hanen KFOR/Fin Bn (HQ/Post office) PO Box 61 00231 Helsinki Finland (The postal service in Kosovo is still somewhat unreliable which is why the books should be sent to this address in Finland, for onward delivery to Prishtina.) Anyone inti'rcstvd in participating in future programs run by Hip A1A should contact: AcademicTraining Association Vendelstraat 2 1012 XX Amsterdam Ph:" 001131 20 525 2495 Fax: 001131 20 525 2495 Email: ata@academictraining.org Web: www.academictraining.org situations. However, they quickly came to appreciate that human rights {and the violation of them) are universal. Many interesting discussions ensued on a broad range of topics, including the treatment of Aborigines and asylum-seekers in Australia, female genital mutilation in Africa, the one-child policy in China, the conduct of multinational corporations in developing countries and the treatment of homosexuals. The students relished the opportunity to apply what they were learning in practical exercises. These included a mock meeting of the UN Security Council to consider authorising the NATO bomb- ing of the Former Republic of Yugoslavia and a moot court concerning the attempt by Spain to extradite former Chilean dictator. General Augusto Pinochet, from the UK. This sort of participatory learning was new to many of the students who were more used to the traditional lecture format where the teacher speaks and the student listens. Despite the novelty of the experiences, they all performed extremely well. The students could not get enough of human rights. I was fortunate to be able to organise various excursions for them in the afternoons, including visits to the Human Rights Centre of the University of Prishtina, an organisation launched in May 2001 to pro- mote human rights education and awareness, and to the Council for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms, whose mission is to investigate human rights abuses and gather evidence for prosecutions. The Council is the first and oldest human rights institution in Kosovo. Having been deprived of formal education for so long, the Kosovar Albanians were overwhelmed and emotional about being in the law faculty building and attending classes with international students and academics. For the first time in more than a decade they felt a part of the world community. The ATA's programs were not limited to the classroom. Weekend excursions to other parts of Kosovo, including Battlava, a beaut- iful freshwater lake, and Prizren, a charming and quaint old city that was once the capital of Kosovo, were organised. These trips were, however, not without incident. A visit to a Serbian monastery did not proceed when the Orthodox priest refused to allow access to the Kosovar Albanians in the group. The inter- national students in an act of solidarity refused to go into the monastery unless the entire group was allowed in. The result was that no one entered. On the one hand, the priest's attitude is understandable when one recognises that many Serbian churches were destroyed by Kosovar Albanians in the days and weeks following the end of the NATO bombing. On the other hand, to refuse access to religious sites on the basis of ethnicity is lamentable. Not surprisingly, the facilities at the university were limited. I was provided with a classroom with desks, chairs and a blackboard. I was pleased that I had the forethought to bring my own chalk. I did have access to an overhead projector, but the regular power failures made this piece of equipment largely useless. Generally, we lost electricity twice a day - once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening. Each blackout lasted several hours. I was amazed at how quickly we all adapted to this situation. The KSU has been hailed as a success and the ATA plans to run the program again next year. By exposing the University of Prishtina to the latest curriculum and pedagogy, the ATA has contributed in a significant way to rebuilding this institution of higher educa- tion. In addition, a number of spin-off projects between the University of Prishtina and the international volunteer academics will lead to ongoing benefits for all involved. The Univer- sity of Melbourne hopes to bring both students and professors from Kosovo to Australia to participate in our graduate programs. A strong bond developed between all who participated in the course, and many friend- ships were formed that will last long into the future. My students have established an online chat group and we continue to have lively discussions about human rights issues, unfortunately of which there are no shortage. THE COURTS The court system in Kosovo collapsed when the NATO bombing began in 1999, and for the decade before that had not provided justice for the majority Albanian population. Building an unbiased, independent and multi- ethnic judicial system was therefore a top priority for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). This was no small feat given that there were no basic resources with which to conduct court proceedings, no modern equipment and no court rules or procedures. Previous court premises were already being used for other purposes. A lot of UNMIK's focus in re- establishing the rule of law in Kosovo is on i E|l a w institute journal 10 d- ne ie Jy is, 'e. ed id ed ■n. ti- m 0- re ict fid irt .er e- 3n introducing reforms. These include rewriting statutes, drafting regulations and creating a case management system. Despite all these difficulties, the Kosovar court system is now springing back into life. I was able to visit one of the 18 Municipal Courts. There is also a Supreme Court, five District Courts, 23 Minor Offences Courts, a High Court for Minor Offences and a Commercial Court. Work is underway to set up the Kosovo War and Ethnic Crimes Court (KWECC). This will be competent to try per- sons for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and other serious crimes committed on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or political opinion. The plan is for KWECC to have local and international judges and prosecutors. The court session I attended was before a female judge, of which there are many, and was conducted in a relaxed and informal manner. Mobile phones went off regularly and were answered, including by the judge. Smoking was allowed in the court and most of those present lit up cigarettes when the power went off in the middle of the hearing, with the result that the order being typed up by the judge's clerk was lost. The nonchalant reaction of those in the courtroom indicated that they had become used to this phenomenon. Justice is dispensed as quickly as possible in order to get through the enormous backlog of cases that accumulated over the decade when Albanian Kosovars did not have ready access to the courts. The matter I sat in on concerned distribution of an estate where the deceased had died intestate more than 10 years ago. A prominent group within the legal profes- sion in Kosovo is NORMA. It is an organisation of women lawyers, including many former judges, who were removed from the Bench Guest lecturer from NORMA, the Kosovo legal aid group, Vjosa Nimani Zylfiu attends a lecture with Paula Gerber. more than 10 years ago. Initially, NORMA was concerned with providing free legal advice to women, mostly on issues relating to inheri- tance and property rights. However, from 1 August 2001, NORMA opened up its services and has, in effect, become the Kosovo Legal Aid Agency, providing a service that is in much demand. PEACE IN THE REGION? While in Kosovo I had the opportunity to discuss the future of the Balkans with a wide variety of people. Discussing politics and the future of Kosovo is the main hobby of most of the local population. Regrettably, I reached the conclusion that the prospect of an endur- ing peace, at least in the short-term, is highly unlikely. The strong presence of the UN is the only reason that there is not an ongoing bloodbath. The peacekeepers maintain the illusion of peace but real peace seems an impossibility. Bitterness and hatred run deep among the Kosovar Albanians. It would be difficult to' find one Kosovar Albanian who does not have a family member, friend, neighbour, colleague or acquaintance who was either killed by the Serbs or is still missing. About 2700 Kosovars are still unaccounted for, although this number is decreasing with each mass grave that is uncovered. The prevailing sentiment seems to be one of wanting retribution rather than reconciliation. My suggestion that a Truth Commission, similar to that conducted in South Africa, may be useful was scoffed at, largely because the Kosovar Albanians say they have seen no sign of remorse or sorrow on the part of the Serbs. Unfortunately, peace in this region seems as elusive as peace between the Palestinians and Israelis, or the Americans and Osama bin Laden. M Notes Paula Gerber is a senior fellow, University of Melbourne Law School and consultant with Lander & Rogers. 1. The only university in Kosovo. 2. One cannot but help draw comparisons to the similar laws enacted by the Nazis against the Jews in Germany in 1933. The image accompanying this article was photographed at the Moorabbin showroom of theVidorian Paving Mart. A _ A. A * "A" A lilt ii i* ■ Muggenthaler Research Viadella Chiesa 23 25083 Gardone Riviera (BS) / Italy Phone: +39 0365 20890 Fax: +39 0365 299015 email:research@numerica.it www.muggenthalen-esearch.com february 2002